Charging apparatus for sinter pan



June20,1967 |.J.MORGAN 3,326,243

CHARGING APPARATUS FOR SINTER PAN Filed Sept. 9, 1965 9 Sheets-Sheet l June 20, 1967 J. MORGAN 3,326,248

v CHARGING APPARATUS FOR SINTER PAN Filed Sem. 9, 1955 9 sheets-sheet F/GZ June 20, 1967 l. J. MORGAN CHARGING APPARATUS FOR SINTER PAN 9 Sheets-Sheet Filed Sept.

I. J. MORGAN CHARGING APPARATUS F'R SINTER PAN 'June 2o, 1967 vFiled Sept. 9, 196.3"

9 Sheets-Sheet 4 June 20, 1967 June 20, 1967 I. J. MORGAN CHARGNG APPARATUS FOR SINTER PAN 9 Sheets-Sheet Filed Sept. 9, 1963 9 SheetS-S-heet June Z0, 1967 l. J. MORGAN CHARGING APPARATUS FOR SINTER PAN Filed sept. 9, 1965 `lune 20, 1967 l. J. MORGAN 3,326,248

CHARGING APPARATUS FOR SINTER PAN ZZ/ 225 22.3 24V June 20, 1967 l. .1. MORGAN CHARGING APPARATUS FOR SINTER PAN Filed sept. 9, 1963 9 Sheets-Sheet who *SNL NRA) Ill United States Patent O 3,326,248 CHARGING APPARATUS FR SENTER PN Irving J. Morgan, Richmond Hill, NX., assignor to Greenawalt Sintering Co., Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 307,71) 12 Claims. (Cl. 141-100) This invention relates to hoppers, especially adapted for feeding material onto the sinter pan of a sintering plant for the purpose of sintering the material charged to the sinter pan.

In the sintering of ores, mineral-containing materials and concentrates, flue dust or kindred materials, it is conventional practice, in sintering plants of the intermittent type (commonly known as the Greenawalt type of sintering plant) and in the continuous type (commonly known as the Dwight and Lloyd type) to prepare a charge of the material to be sintered, which charge also contains combustible fuel. It is also conventional practice to place the charge on the sinter pan in superimposed layers of desired characteristics; and then to ignite the charge while applying suction under the pan so as to draw air through the charge to burn it. This causes the charge to be sintered. During the sintering operation the fuel, or combustible matter, in the charge is caused to burn in a manner to bring about an incipient fusion of the charge to produce porous sintered product from said charge. This porous sintered product is frequently referred to simply as sinter.

After the burning of the charge on the sinter pan is finished, the pan is emptied of the sinter, the sinter is broken up into lumps of desired size and screened to remove fines. Another prepared charge is then placed on the pan and the sintering cycle is repeated.

It is` common practice in many sintering plants to place the charge material on the sinter pan in layers which usually are a rsr, or bed layer, made up of return fines; or ore particles of suitable size a second, or main charge layer, made up of prepared charge of the ore material to be sintered, which is usually moistened; and a third, or ignition, top layer, which is made up of material containing suflicient additional fuel to facilitate ignition. In sintering plants of the intermittent type, the sinter pan is in a fixed place and the layers of material are charged to the pan by means of a travelling hopper car, known as a charge car. In a continuous sintering plant, the sinter pans travel as a continuous belt and the charging apparatus is positioned over the travelling pans.

Generally speaking, the charge car for an intermittent plant, comprises a frame or chassis, constructed of structural steel members, mounted on rail wheels fixed to axles which rotate in journal bearings secured to the chassis; a hopper, divided into separate compartments, beinfr mounted on the chassis. The car is propelled on a pair of track rails running alongside the sinter pan so that the car may straddle the pan and run over it as the car travels on the rails. The various hopper compartments are equipped with mechanisms to deliver a quantity of charge material from the hopper compartments onto the pan as the car travels over the pan. The car is so arranged that one compartment delivers a comparatively thin layer of graded bed-layer material onto the grate of the pan. This bed-layer material is usually graded return fines which serves as a bed-layer to protect the pan grates from the heat generated during the subsequent burning operation. Then a comparatively thick layer of the main charge material to be sintered is laid upon the bed-layer from another of the hopper compartments. The main charge contains a certain amount of combustible matter and also moisture. Then a com- ICC paratively thin layer of material containing an additional percentage of a combustible fuel, called an ignition layer',- is laid upon the main charge layer from another hopper compartment of the car. Then the sinter pan charge is burned to produce sinter.

Charge cars heretofore available, although their hopper compartments were equipped with feed rolls, and openable and closeable feed gates for charging the different layers of charge onto the sinter pan, were so arranged and geared that the control of the thickness of the layers of charge laid upon the pan depended primarily on the linear speed of the car travel over the pan. And a1- though the feed gates on the hopper compartments might be adjusted to vary the feed gate openings, all of the feed rolls rotated in response to the rotation of a wheel axle so that the speed of rotation of each delivery roll was dependent on the linear speed of the charge car. That is, aside from some control by adjusting the port openings between the feed rolls and their respective hopper compartments, the amount of charge material delivered from the compartments of the hopper car was dependent upon and controlled to a large extent by the linear speed of the charge car as it travelled over the sinter pan. Consequently it required a great deal of experience and skill on the part of the operator to lay down layers of the charge material on the sinter pan which were uniform from cycle to cycle in the sintering plant operation. The operator had to judge the thickness of the layers making up the charge bed as best he could, because the thickness of charge delivered was largely dependent upon the speed of travel of the car since all of the feed rolls were geared to a car wheel axle and their rotary speed was controlled by the rotary speed of the wheel axles. If the layers of material appears too thick, or too thin, or not uniform, during a charge pass over the pan, the operator has had to vary and otherwise manipulate the linear speed of the travelling car during a pass of the car over the sinter pan during the charging operation in order to control the thickness of the bed of charge. If the operator attempted to vary or adjust the bed to proper conditions to accomplish the desired sintering results, he had to do this by controlling or varying the linear speed of the charge car during the forward pass of the charge car over the pan. This is a drawback because the regulation alone of the feed gate openings of the various hopper compartments is not suicient to maintain the desired uniformity of charge on the pan from cycle to cycle. Inasmuch as the speed of rotation of the feed rolls could not be independently changed during the charging pass of the car over the pan, and a change of speed of the car caused a corresponding change of speed of rotation of all feed rolls, the change of linear speed of the car itself could not be depended upon to adjust and control the thickness of the layers of the charge laid upon the sinter pan with the desired degree of uniformity or accuracy.

In accordance with this invention, sinter pan charging apparatus is provided which is so arranged that the feed roll for each hopper compartment which contains charge material is independently driven and mechanism is provided so that the rotational speed of the main charge feed roll may be varied and Icontrolled during a charging operation to cause a layer of charge material of predetermined and uniform thickness to be delivered on to the sinter pan.

The invention is admirably suited for construction of a travelling hopper car which is so arranged that the feed roll for each hopper compartment is independently driven and the mechanism is contrived so that the rotational speed of each feed roll is not dependent on the linear speed of the car but the rotary speed of each feed roll may be varied and controlled independently during the forward, or charging, pass of the charge car over the sinter pan. Thus, the thickness of each layer of charge over the entire area of the sinter pan may be controlled with a nicety that insures uniformity of the charge thickness over the entire area of the pan. Moreover, the sinter charge as to thickness of the various layers may be uniform from cycle toV cycle, or varied as desired.

Also, novel feeler and depth control mechanism is provided to adjust and control automatically the rotational speed of the main charge feed roll in response to layer thickness that is being laid on the pan as the car makes its forward movement over the pan during its charging pass, thereby to eliminate the task of manually controlling bed thickness.

In addition, there is provided a novel distributor plate, contrived to operate in cooperation with the middle or main charge feed roll to uniformly fluff the charge layer as it is laid on the pan to insure the desired uniform porosity of the sintering charge which facilitates proper burning of the charge to produce desired and uniform porosity in the resultant sinter. This enhances the etliciency of the entire sintering operation. While it is usually sufficient to provide only the main charge feed roll with the novel uffer plate and automatic feeler and control mechanism to control layer thickness, the other feed rolls, front and rear, may be equipped with either orrboth of these novel mechanisms, if desired.

Although the novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention are pointed out in the annexed claims, the invention itself as to its objects and `advantages and the manner in which it may be carried out may be better understood by reference to the following more detailed description, considered in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, in which:

FIG. l is a side View in elevation of a charge car embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in elevation of the car looking toward its rear end;

FIG. 3 is a side view in elevation in diagrammatic form for purposes of illustrating certain operational features of the car;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view in elevation of the rear end portion of the car showing a typical feed roll assembly and also the gearing for driving the charge car;

FIG. 5 is a View showing a typical cam roller and linkage for manually placing the cam roller to operative position for operating the chop gates and feed rolls on the forward pass of the car and to inoperative position on the return pass of the car;

FIG. 5A is a view on line SA-SA of FIG. 5;

FIG. 5B is a view on line SB--SB yof FIG. 5;

FIG. 6 is a side View to illustrate a typical chop gate operable to open and close the delivery port between a hopper compartment and feed roll, for delivery of material from a hopper compartment to the sinter pan;

FIG. 7 is a view on line 7 7 Iof FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is apartial view in elevation looking from front toward the rear of the car to illustrate a typical slide gate which is vertically adjustable by a hand wheel to adjust the area of a delivery port between `a hopper compartment and feed roll;

FIG. 9 is a view on line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. l0 is a view on line 10-10 fof FIG. 8;

FIG. l1 is a view looking rearwardly to illustrate a typical uifer plate and the arrangement for vibrating the plate laterally, or crosswise, of the car;

FIG. 12 is a view in section through a bracket and spring means for mounting the vibrator uffer plate on the car chassis;

FIG. 13 is a view on line 13-13of FIG. l1;

FIG. 14 is a top plan vie'w of the main charge layerdepth control mechanism, its feeler wheel and its linkage connecting with a rack and pinion arrangement for opera- 4 tion of an electrical device for controlling and varying rotational speed of the main charge feed roll in response to change in depth of the main charge delivered onto the sinter pan by the feed roll;

FIG. 15 is a view on line 15-15 of FIG. 14 showing a side view in elevation of the depth control mechanism;

FIG. 16 is a view in elevation looking from the rear showing the mechanism; taken on line 16-16 of FIG. l5;

FIG. 17 is a detail in section and partly broken away and to larger scale of the rack and pinion mechanism and bar to provide for adjustable lost motion for preventing hunting of the speed controller device, taken on line 17-17 of FIG. 14; and

FIG. 18 is a wiring diagram to further illustrate the operation of the charge car.

Referring now to the drawings, in which like reference character denotes like parts throughout the several views, the charge car, in general, comprises la chassis D mounted on front and rear axles having flanged Wheels W; a hopper E mounted on the chassis, the hopper, as shown, being divided into three compartments: front compartment A, middle compartment B and rear compartment C, each being equipped with an independently operated feed roll and chop gate assembly F, G and H, respectively; and motor driven means I geared to the rear axle for propelling the car on a pair of rail tracks K.

The hopper E is constructed of steel plate with suitable structural members. As mentioned above, it has three compartments, A, B, and C. The front compartment A has a vertical wall 10a, an inclined wall 11a and a delivery port 12a at its lower end above the feed roll 13a. Compartment A will normally contain graded return fines 15a of sintered material for charging a first, or bed, layer to the sinter pan 14.

Compartment B is for charging a second, or main, charge of material 15b to be sintered. It has a vertical wall 10b, an inclined wall 11b and a delivery port 12b at its lower end above the middle feed roll 13b.

`Compartment C is for charging a third, or ignition, material 15e which contains sufcient combustible material, or fuel, for facilitating ignition of the charge after it is laid down on the sinter pan, as further described hereinafter. This rear compartment C also has a verticali Wall 10c; an inclined wall 11e and a delivery port 12C at its lower end, above the rear feed roll 13e.

The vertical walls 10a, 10b, 10c are of like construction and may perhaps be best visualized by reference to FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 showing further details of a typical vertical wall of a hopper compartment. As shown in the drawings (see FIGS. 8, 9, l0), a steel plate 17c is suitably mounted on and strengthened by structural members 18, 19 on the side walls 20, 21 of the hopper E. The plate 17e, terminates at its lower end, short of the periphery of the feed roll 13C, thereby providing a delivery port 12C from hopper compartment C over the top of feed roll 13C. A slide gate 22e is mounted for vertical slidable movement on plate 17C. This slide gate 22C is movable up and down and may be adjusted to a desired vertical position to adjust the area of delivery port 12C. At its uppermost, or full-open, position, as shown in FIG. 9, the port is fully open. At its lowermost, or full-closed position, the delivery port 12C is fully closed. The gate 22C may be adjusted -at any desired vertical position between full-open and full-closed positions, thus to regulate the size of the area of the delivery port 12C.

Means are provided for adjusting the size of the port area 12e. It comprises a plate bracket 23C, secured to gate plate 22C, having an internally threaded nut 24e through which vertically extends an externally threaded rotatable shaft 2SC. The shaft 25C is rotatably mounted in a bearing 26e in a bracket secured to an angle iron frame member 27C extending crosswise of the hopper E. It will be understood that the opposite end of the slide gate 22C has a similar threaded nut and threaded shaft arrangement, as shown in FIG. 8, which is a partial View showing only one side of the slide gate. The means, as shown, for raising and lowering sli-de gate 22C comprises a horizontally mounted rotatable shaft 29e having a hand wheel 30C secured thereto at its outer end and available to be manually turned from outside the hopper. Keyed to shaft 29C is a bevel pinion 31e which meshes with a bevel pinion 32C keyed to the vertical shaft 25e. The ends of slide gate 22C, together with bracket 23C, slide in guideways 33C on each side of the hopper. Vertically mounted angle irons 34C serve as guides.

The vertical walls a and lb of compartments A and B (see FIG. 3) are constructed in the same manner as vertical wall 10c and each has the same arrangement as the typical structure, shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and l0, which was described above. Therefore, it is deemed unnecessary to describe the vertical walls 10a and lflb in further detail.

Each of the hopper compartments A, B and C is provided with a feed roll and mechanism for rotating it independently of the rotation of the other feed rolls. The feed roll assemblies are designated generally by reference characters F, G and H. Inasinuch as each feed roll assembly -is structurally the same as the others, it will suffice to describe only one in detail.

Referring now to FIGS. l to 7, and presently more particularly to FIG. 4 showing the feed roll assembly for the rear hopper compartment C, the feed roll 13C is mounted crosswise of the car. Its axle shaft 36e is mounted to rotate in bearings 37C, 38e secured to the longitudinal I- beam structural members, or main longitudinal side sills, 39, 40 of the chassis D (see FIG. 2). The peripheral surface 41e of the feed roll 13e is positioned to receive material C passing from the hopper compartment C through delivery port 12C. Upon rotation of the feed roll 13C in the direction of arrow 42C (see FIG. 9), the material is directed to fall on the grate 45 of sinter pan 14 as illus trated diagrammatically in FIG. 3. A pair of vertically disposed wing plates 46c, mounted on the chassis, one at each end of feed roll 13C, prevents the comminuted material 15C from spilling over the side walls of the sinter pan. Thus the wing plates confine the flow of the material to the area Within the side walls 47, 4S of the pan (see FIG. 2) as the car travels in its charging pass over the pan. A rearwardly inclined baffle 16C extending crosswise the full length of feed roll 13C directs material delivered from the feed roll onto the sinter pan grate 45.

An electric motor 56C is connected to rotate feed roll 13C independently of the other feed rolls. The motor is enclosed in a dust-proof housing and is connected with a speed reducer 51C, which in turn is drivingly connected to the feed roll axle shaft 52C (see FIG. 2) to rotate the feed roll. The motor and its speed reducer are mounted on suitable -brackets 53e which are secured to the main longtiudinal sills 39, 46 of the chassis. A described in further detail hereinafter, the feed roll 13C and, as well the other feed rolls 13a, 13b, is provided with contrivanccs operative automatically to start and stop the rotation of the feed roll at the appropriate times and in appropriate sequence during the travel of the charge car over the sinter pan. The top of the side walls 47, 48 and front end wall 55 and rear end Wall S6 of the sinter pan are indicated by reference numeral 49.

The feed roll assembly H is provided with a chop gate 60C which is contrived to open and close the delivery port 12C automatically at the appropriate times as the charge car moves in its forward or charging pass over the sinter pan 14. The feed roll assemblies F and G are constructed in the same fashion as feed roll assembly H. Therefore, it will suffice to describe only one in detail. Referring more particularly to assembly H, the chop gate 60C comprises a gate plate 61e including an angle iron 64e. (See FIGS. 6 and 7.) Plate tilc is fixed to one side of a structural frame 62C which at its other side is fixed to a cross shaft 63e. Shaft 63e is mounted for rockable rotation in bearings 65C and 65C. These bearings are mounted on the main longitudinal sills 39, 40 of the chassis D. A vertically disposed angle member 34C (see FIG. l0) fixed to the side walls of the hopper provides a guide for the slide gate 22C and bracket 23C. By rocking shaft 63C on its axis, the chop gate 60C may be swung to full-closed position into contact with bracket 23C, or to full-open position as shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 6. When in full-closed position, the delivery port 12C is fully shut off and no material may flow from hopper compartment C. And, when in full-open position, material 15C may flow through port 12C, onto the sinter pan grate 45 (see FIG. 3). The amount and rate of flow will depend upon the position of slide gate 22e which determines the area of the delivery port 12e and also the amount and rate of flow will depend upon the speed of rotation of feed roll 13e which delivers the material through the port in a direction toward the sinter pan.

Means are provided to rock the chop gate shaft 63C to open and close the chop gate 60C at appropriate times. As shown (see FIG. 4), a rocker lever 67C, fixed at one end to rocker shaft 63C, is pivotally connected at its opposite end 70C to a crank lever 7lc, which in turn is pivotally mounted at its opposite end on a fixed stub shaft 72C (see FIG. 5). The stub shaft 72C is mounted on a suitable bracket 73e secured to side sill 39 of the chassis D. A roller arm 74C has a hub 118e at its upper end which is mounted for free rotation on stub shaft 72C. It is arranged in such manner that when roller arm 74C is swung about its pivoted end on stub shaft 72C in counterclockwise direction (as viewed in FIG. 4), it correspondingly swings crank lever 71C to rock shaft 53C and hence to operate chop gate 60e to open position. A depending arm 76C secured to crank lever 71C carries a pin on which is anchored one end of a helical tension spring 77C, the other end of which is anchored to a pin secured to roller arm 74e. The tension spring 77e yieldingly hold the shoulder 75C of arm 76C in Contact with a shoulder 116C on ro-ller arm 74C so that the roller arm 74e and lever 71a` rotate together as a unit when the roller arm 74C is swung in counterclockwise direction (as viewed in FIG. 4) on stub shaft 72C upon which it is mounted for free rotation. The force of the spring will tend to pull the lever 71C and hence the chop gate 60C down to normal closed position. However, the spring will yield when crank lever 71e is swung on the stub shaft 72e` in response to swinging movement of roller arm 74C about the stub shaft 72e in clockwise direction, and arm 74e` will freely swing on the stub shaft 72e away from the shoulder 75C of lever 71e with the result that this will not disturb the closed chop gate flc. The purpose of this construction will be explained later on.

The lower or outer end of roller arm 74e (see FIG. 5) is bifurcated to provide a clevis C (see FIG. 5). A roller pin 78C through the arms 79C, 86e of the clevis provides a roller shaft upon which camroller 81C is mounted for free rotation. The cam roller is provided with a hub 82C in which is a groove 83C, the purpose of which is described later on. The cam roller is slidable laterally on shaft 78e.

A switch box 54C (see FIG. 4) mounted on the chassis contains a mercury switch 57e operative in response to rotation of rock shaft 63C to open and close the electric power circuit connected to motor 50c. The enclosed mercury switch 57C is moved to closed and open position by means of lever 58C connected to linkage 59e secured to rock shaft 63C; this linkage being operative in response to rotation of the rock shaft 63C which is rocked in response to operation of the linkage connected to cam roller 81C.

Each of the feed roll assemblies F, G is provided with like linkage and is constructed in the same manner as feed roll assembly H except that motors 50a and 50c for driving front feed roll 13a and rear feed roll 13C are A.C. motors, whereas the motor Silb for driving the middle feed roll 13b is a D.C. motor, as explained hereinafter.

The car is provided with power means to propel it on the rail tracks K. An electric motor 8S is mounted on a cross plate 86 carried on the main sills 39, 40. It will be understood, of course, that suitable cross sills 87, fore and aft, are joined with the side sills 39, 40 to provide the chassis D with the necessary structural strength. Fixed to the drive shaft 88 of motor 85 is a gear @operatively connected, through a train of gears 90, 91 with a drive gear 92 keyed to rear axle 93 on which is fixed a pair of anged car wheels 94, 95. The train of gears is-mounted for rotation Within a housing 96.

The cam rollers 81a, b, c may be set in a position to roll on a cam rail 100 when the car travels in its forward pass over the sinter pan 14. The cam rail 100 runs alongside and parallel with wheel tra-ck rail 101. The cam rail is provided with offsets 102', 103 thus to provide a horizontally disposed longitudinal cam face 104. Means are provided to shift the cam rollers 81a, b, c on the roller shaft to a position so that the rollers engage and roll on the cam face 104 of the cam rail 100 when the charge car travels forwardly in its charging pass over the sinter pan, this position being herein referred to as active position; or to a position in which the rollers do not engage the cam rail when the car moves rearwardly on its return passover the sinter pan, this position being referred to as passive position.

To accomplish this shifting of the cam rollers to active position and to passive position, there is provided a mechanism of linked levers and a shifting fork for each of the rollers 81a, b, c. The three linkage mechanisms 105a, b, c are connected to a single rocker shaft 106 mounted longitudinally along the car in suitable bearings in brackets carried on spaced vertically disposed post members 113a, b, c.

Inasmuch as the three mechanisms 105a, b, c, for shifting the cam rollers 81a, b, c on their respective cam roller shafts, are constructed in the same manner, it is deemed sucient to describe only one of them. Referring, for example, to cam roller shift mechanism for the rear feed roll assembly H, which is typical, the rocker shaft 106 has a manually operable lever 107 (see FIG 5) keyed at its inner end to the rocker shaft; this lever having a handle 108 at its outer end. Also keyed to the rocker shaft 106, is an outwardly extending lever arm 109C, which is pivoted at its outer end to a link 110C, which in turn is pivotally connected to an angle lever 111C, pivoted at its apex on a pivot pin 112C mounted in a bracket secured to side sill 39 of the chassis. The angle lever 111C is connected at the end 115C of its arm 114e to a horizontally disposed curved push-pull bar 117e (see FIG. 5A). The outer end of bar 117C has a bore which slidably fits over a horizontally disposed spool 120e` which in turn is slidably mounted on a pin 121C which is threaded into the end of stub shaft 72C. Also mounted on spool 120C is a second curved push-pull bar 122C, the outer end of which has a bore tting over the spool 120C within the end hubs 123C, 123C of the spool. The outer end of arm 117e` also is positioned within the hubs of the spool 120C. The inner end of the second push-pull bar 122C is pivotally mounted on a pin 124C fixed to roller arm 74a` and extending radially outward from hub 118e of the lcani roller arm 74C. A shift fork-lever 125C is pivoted on a pivot pin 126C on roller arm 74C. The upper end of the fork-lever 125C is pivoted on pin 124C on which the inner eild of curved arm 122 is also pivoted and its lower end is bifurcated to provide fork-lever tynes 127C which t into groove 83C of the cam-roller hub 82e (see FIGS. 5, 5A, 5B). It should be observed that the pin 121C is on the center line of stub shaft 72C; that is, the pin 121C is coaxial with the axis of rotation of hub 118C at the upper end of cam roller arm 74C. Now it will be seen that by manually rotating hand lever 107 about its pivot,

this will rock shaft 106 about its axis of rotation. If hand lever 107 is moved toward post member 113C, this causes push-pull arm 117C to move spool 120C outwardly on pin 121C. This movement of the spool causes the second push-pull arm 122C to move outwardly and the fork lever 125C is rotated on its pivot pin 126C. This causes the tynes 127C to move the hub 82C of the cam roller 81C inwardly, that is, to the right as viewed in FIG. 5. This causes the cam roller 81C to move into the path of cam track so that it will engage the cam track 100 when the car is propelled on rail tracks 101, 102. A reverse rotation of hand lever 107 away from post 113e will cause a movement of shifting fork C that causes the cani roller 81C to move outwardly and away frorn the path of cam track 100 as illustrated in FIG. 5. A lcatch lever 130C pivoted to post 113C has notches 131C, 132C which engage a locking pin 134e on hand lever 107 to lock the cam lever, in an operative position where the cam roller is in the cam track path or in an inoperative position where the cam roller is outside the cani track path as illustrated in FIG. 5.

All of the cam roller operating mechanisms 10551, b and c are similarly constructed and connected to rocker shaft 106, so that the operation of hand lever 107 will cause a corresponding movement in unison of cam rollers 81a, b, c into or out of the path of cam track 100. The purpose of the above-described arrangement of linkages for shifting the vcam rollers 81a, b, c to active or to passive positions is as follows: When the charge car is loaded and ready to be propelled forwardly, to make a charge pass over the sinter pan, the hand lever 107 is mo-ved toward the side of the car to place the cam rollers 81a, b, c in the path of cam track 100. Hence, when the car passes over the pan to charge the pan, each chop gate 60a, b, c will be opened and closed automatically by action of the cam roller linkage at the appropriate times and also each feed roll will automatically be rotated and stopped at the appropriate times. The mercury switches 57a, b, c are in open position when the chop gates 60a, b, c are in closed position so that the feed rolls do not rotate except when the chop gates are open. After the car has completed its charge pass, it must be returned to its loading -or starting station- During the return pass to the starting station, the chop gates 60a, b, c must remain closed and it is desirable that the feed rolls remain inoperative. At the end of the charge pass, the hand lever 107 may be shifted to place the cam rollers 81a, b, c out of the path of cam track 100, thus to maintain the chop gates closed and the feed rolls inoperative when the car is returned to its starting station. When the car is ready for another forward or charge pass, the lever is shifted to place the cam rollers in the path of cam track 100, thus to render the chop gates and feed rolls operative automatically. However, if the hand lever 107 is not shifted to place the cam rollers 81a, b, c out of the path of the cam track for the return trip of the car after a charging pass, the cam rollers `will roll on the cam track on the return pass but, nevertheless, the chop gates 60a, b, c will remain in closed position and the feed rolls will remain inoperative because, as was explained in the foregoing, a rotation of the cam roller arm '74C in clockwise direction about its shaft 77C (see FIG. 4) as would be the case on the return pass of the car, the lever arm 71C is not rotated and hence rocker shaft 63C is not rocked. It is not rotated because the shoulder 116C on cam roller arm '74C merely swings away from shoulder 75C of the lever arm 71C. In other words, the arrangement is a safety device to prevent discharge of material from the hoppers except at appropriate times during a charge pass.

The main charge feed roll assembly G is provided with an oscillatory fluffer plate which is mounted to receive charge material delivered over feed roll 13b from hopper compartment B and to distribute it in fluffed condition and to lay a uniformly porous main charge layer over the 9 entire area of the sinter pan as the charge car is propelled forwardly in its charge pass over the pan. The construction of, and the means for oscillating, the uffer plate is perhaps best shown in FIGS. 1l, 12 and 13, considered with FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

As shown, the fluffer plate assembly M comprises a at distributor plate 140 mounted on a structural frame 141 which iluifs the charge material. The frame cornprises a channel member 142 having reinforcing wing plate members 143 at each end. This plate assembly is mounted at each end on swinging hangers 144, 145 pivotally suspended on brackets 146, 147, which are fixed to the under surfaces of the lower flanges of chassis sills 39, 4t).

The distributor or fluffer plate 140 is serrated along its forward or lending edge 136 from end to end to provide alternate teeth 137 and slots 133. The slots 138 extend inwardly from the leading edge 136 of the plate for a distance about half the width of the plate; that is, about half the distance from the leading edge 136 to its trailing edge 139. The slots are tapered; the side edges of the slots converging toward the trailing edge 139 of the plate. Likewise, the teeth are tapered and their side edges converge toward the leading edge 136 of the plate. The area of each slot opening is the same as the surface area of its adjacent tooth.

Brackets 146 and 147 and hangers 144 and 145 are of similar construction except that each is opposite hand to the other. A typical bracket comprises a top Wall plate 150 to which are secured vertically depending spaced parallel walls 148, 149 and an outside vertically disposed end wall 154. Top plate 150 is fastened to the under side of the lower ange of a main sill; one on sill 39 and the other on sill 40.

A typical hanger comprises parallel, spaced links 152, 153. A pivot pin 151 extends through suitable lbores in the bracket walls and the upper ends of the links 152, 153. The hanger is mounted on the pin 151 for swingable movement about its axis. The lower ends of links 152, 153 have bores through which extends a pin 155 on which is mounted the end 156 of a connecting rod 157; described later on. The outer ends of pin 155 extend through bores in a pair of spaced vertically disposed parallel brackets 153, 159 secured to and extending outwardly from vertical wing plates 143 at each end of the flutter plate 140. Intermediate the ends of hanger links 152, 153 and between the pins 151, 155, is a trunnion shaft 160 the ends of which are cylindrical and extend through suitable bores in the links. A spring mounting rod 161 threaded at one end 162 is threaded into a threaded bore in the trunnion shaft 160. The opposite end of this rod slidably extends through a registering bore 163 in the end wall 154 of bracket 147 (see FIG. 12). Bracket 146 is similarly constructed and arranged. A helical spring 167 is mounted on rod 161 (see FIG. 12) between spring retaining ring 164 which rests against wall 154 and spring retaining ring 165 which rests against an adjustable lock-nut stop 166. It will now be seen that the fluifer plate is so mounted on its hangers that it can be oscillated laterally, i.e. cross-wise, of the car, because the helical springs 167, one on each side of the car, exert their yieldable forces toward each other but each permits a limited lateral or vibrational movement of the plate which is suspended on the hangers 144, 145 which in turn are pivotally suspended on pins 151 (see FIG. 11).

The fiuffer plate is mounted cross-wise of the car with its trailing edge under the periphery of the main charge feed roll 13b so that charge material, which passes through port 12b and delivered by the rotating feed roll 13b is cast upon the upper surface of the plate 140. The plate is inclined forwardly as illustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 3. As the car is moved forward in its charging pass the charge from hopper B is delivered upon the utfer plate 140, and as the plate is oscillated or vibrated,

the charge material is delivered over the leading edges of the teeth 137 and also through the slots 138 with an oscillatory motion on to the sinter pan; the smaller particles or agglomerates tending to fall through the slots according to the taper of the slots and the larger particles or agglomerates passing over the surface of the teeth and nally cascading over the leading edge of the serrated plate. This action fluffs the charge uniformly and lays a uniformly porous layer of the charge material on the pan.

Power driven means are provided to oscillate the fluifer plate 140. An electric motor 170 is mounted on horizontal platform 171 which is supported on the chassis D by suitable horizontal structural members 172, vertical structural members 173, secured to and carried by main sill 40 and inclined bracing members 174. The driven shaft of the electric motor is in the form of a crank shaft having a bearing portion 175 which is ofic center. A reciprocating connecting rod 157 is drivingly connected at its outer end 156 to the lower pin 155 of the hanger 144 (see FIG. l1). The inner end of the reciprocating connecting rod is drivingly connected to the offset bearing portion 175 of the motor driven crank shaft. Hence, when motor 170 is in operation, the offset portions 175 of the motor crank shaft will cause reciprocating movement of the connecting rod 157 with resultant oscillatory motion of the fluffer plate 140; the throw or stroke of the connecting rod being indicated by broken lines 176 in FIG. 11. As explained later on, the electric motor 170 is preferably, but not necessarily, connected in parallel with the electric circuit for driving main drive motor 85 so that the plate 141) is oscillated when the charge car is propelled on its tracks K.

The feeler and main charge layer depth control mechanism, designated generally by reference character N, is perhaps best shown in FIGS. 14, 15, 16 and 17, considered with FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The depth control mechanism comprises a feeler wheel, mounted to rotate on a pivoted lever connected to linkage which operates a rack in response to change in thickness of the layer of material laid down on the sinter pan by the main charge feed rolls and a rotatable pinion gear meshing with the rack teeth and connected to operate a potentiometer in response to movement of the rack; the potentiometer being connected in the electric circuit which drives the feed roll motor 50h. Motor 5011 is a D.C. motor whereas all other motors are A.C. motors.

As shown, an angle lever 180 having an angle arm 181 and a .clevis arm 182 is pivotally mounted at its apex on a pivot pin 183 carried -on a pair of spaced, vertically disposed, flanged, plates 184, 185 secured to the under side of the base plate 186. The base plate, in normal position, lies in a horizontal plane parallel with the plane through the upper flanges of the chassis side sills 39, 40. The lower end of lever arm 182 has a clevis 187 through the legs of which extends a feeler wheel shaft 188 upon which is mounted a rotatable feeler wheel 189.

The upper end of lever arm 181 is pivotally connected' by pivot pin 192 .to one end of a connecting rod 19t) which comprises two sections joined by a threaded sleeve 191 by which the length of the connecting rod may be adjusted. The inner end of connecting rod is pivotally connected to one end of a push-pull rod 197 which is mounted for slidable movement in suitable bores in stub legs 193, 194, which depend from the ends of a rack 195. The rack has a toothed upper surface 196. The rack 195 is provided with a pair of guide lugs 198 which are slidable in guideways 199. The guideways extend longitudinally in a pair of guide rails 200 secured to base plate 186. It will now be seen that when the feeler wheel 189 is raised or lowered, the angle lever 180 is rocked on its pivot 183 and connecting rod 190 will move push-pull rod 197 longitudinally a corresponding distance which is proportioned to the relative lengths of lever arms 181, 182. Stop collars 201, 202 are mounted on push-pull rod 197 adjacent the stub legs 193, 194. These stop members may be clamped by set screws to the push-pull rod 197 in adjusted positions to provide a certain lost motion action in the operation of the push-pull rod and rack 196 for a purpose explained hereinafter.

Pinion gear 203, the teeth of which mesh with the teeth of surface 196 of the rack, is secured to a rotatable pinion shaft 204 mounted for rotation in suitable bearings in a pair of spaced upright standards 205, 206, which are fixed to base plate 186.

Mounted on standard 205 is a housing 207 which contains a potentiometer which is connected into the electric power circuit which connects with the feed roll motor 5011. The rotatable pinion shaft 204 extends into the potentiometer housing and is arranged to operate the contact element, or wiper arm in engagement with the resistance element of the potentiometer in response to rotation of the pinion shaft. That is, a rotation of the pinion shaft 204 in one angular direction, in response to raising of feeler -wheel 189, will cause the potentiometer to reduce the speed of motor 50b to reduce the speed of rotation of feed roll 13b correspondingly. This will result in a reduction in the am-ount of material that is being delivered by the feed roll 13b on to the fluffer plate 140. When the feeler wheel is lowered this will cause a rotation of pinion shaft 204 in the opposite angular direction which will cause the motor 50b to increase the speed of rotation of feed roll 13b correspondingly and thereby material will be del livered to the uifer plate 140 at a greater rate.

The charge depth controller mechanism, including the base plate, is mounted and carried on'a rocker shaft 215. (See FIGS. 14, l5, 16.) The rocker shaft 215 extends through and is xed to the depending plates 184, 185 upon which the base plate 186 is mounted` Rocker shaft 215 extends crosswise of the car and is mounted for rotation in bearings 217, 218 which are mounted in the webs of main sills 39, 40. Keyed to the end of the rocker shaft 215 is a rocker lever 219, the -outer end of which is pivotally connected to the upper end 220 of a vertically disposed lift rod 221 mounted for vertical movement in a guide bracket 222, secured to the chassis. The lower end of the lift rod 221 has a clevis 223 in which a cam roller 224 is mounted on a cam roller shaft 225 for rotation. The normal position of the lift rod 221 and its cam rolle-r 224 is in its lowermost position as shown in FIG. 15 A stop plate 226 secured to chassis sill 40, prevents the base plate 186 from rotating counterclockwise more than shown` in FIG. l and when the base plate engages the stop 226 the base plate lies in normal horizontal position. Cam plates, such as the cam plate 227 shown in FIG. l5, are pla-ced and secured alongside track rail 102 at spaced intervals. These cam plates are located in the path of travel of the cam roller 224 and at such locations that the cam roller 224 will engage a cam plate, such as cam 227, and trip the lever 219 and rock shaft 215 to tip up the forward end of the control mechanism and thus lift the forward end of the base plate temporarily. This causes feeler wheel 189 to move upwardly temporarily to permit it to pass over the top -of the end walls 56 and 55 of the sinter pan just at the time the feeler wheel is about to reach the end walls of the pan during the forward or the return pass of the charge car over the sinter pan. The` feeler wheel 189 will drop back to normal position in the sinter pan and remain there during the time the feeler wheel is within the end walls of the pan. The operation of the depth control device for maintaining a uniform thickness of charge material during the charging operation is described hereinafter in connection with the electrical power circuits as shown in the accompanying wiring diagram FIG. 18.

In order to describe one manner of operating the charge car, reference is now made to FIG. 18 which illustrates a simplified wiring diagram of an electrical hookup for the various motors.

A three-phase alternating power line 300 is utilized as a source of electrical power for the operation of the charge car. The main drive motor S5 of the charge car is connected through circuit 301 to the power line 300. The operation of the drive motor 85, and thus the movement of the charge car, is regulated through means of a controller circuit 302 connected by conductors 303 to the power line 301. When the Forward7 push button 330 is depressed by the operator, a circuit is momentarily completed through an energizing coil 340 which, in addition to other functions hereinafter to be described, causes the normally-open contactor 336 to close, thereby holding the circuit through the coil 340 which remains closed after pressure on the push button 330 is removed. When holding coil 340 is energized, contactors 343 in the circuit 301 of the main drive motor 05 are closed, and current is supplied to the motor from the power line 300, causing the charge car to advance in the forward direction.

The actuation of the Forward push button 330 in the controller circuit 302, in addition to energizing the drive motor of the charge car, also initiates activation of the motor which vibrates the uffer plate 140 under the main charge hopper compartment B (FIG. l). When this push button is depressed, holding coil 340 becomes energized, thereby closing contactor 345 and completing an interlock circuit 304 which supplies energizing current to coil 350. Energization of coil 350 in turn causes the contact terminals of its associated contactors 35051 to close, and the circuit path 309 for current ow from the power line 300 to the vibrator motor 170 is completed. Thus, activation of the Forward push button 330 by the operator initiates both the forward advance of the charge car and the oscillation of the uffer plate 140. Energization of the holding coil 340, in addition to closing the contactor 336 in the holding circuit, and each of the contactors 343 in the drive motor circuit 301, and the contactor 345 in the fluifer plate interlock circuit 304, also closes each of the normally-open contactors 346, 347, and 348, thereby conditioning the electrical circuits of the three respective feed roll motors 50a, 50h, and 50c for actuation.

When the operator desires to stop the progress of the charge car along the track (for example, after the charge car has completed its forward or charging pass over the sinter pan 14), momentary depression of the Stop push button 334 will open the circuit supplying energizing current to the holding coil 340, and will cause each of the following contactors to return to their normally-open position: 336, 343, 345, 346, 347 and 348 (i.e., energization and deenergization of holding coil 340 controls the operation of all a contactor elements). This action opens the circuit paths to all of the motors in the charge car, and in particular, halts the flow of energizing current to the car drive motor 85. To assist in the stopping of the charge cars advance, electrodynarnic braking action is preferably provided by a stern brake 85a connected across two of the eld winding terminals of the drive motor 85.

A reversal in the direction of movement of the charge car is achieved by the operators depression of the Reverse push button 332. This action closes a holding circuit, forrned of energizing coil 342 and normally-open contactor 338, which provides a completed path for current flow through the energizing coil after pressure is removed from the push button 332. Energization of coil 342 also activates contactors 344 which, as may be seen from the diagram of FIG. 18, provide a through connection from the power line 300 to the drive motor 85 via circuit path 305. The wiring of circuit 305 is such as to reverse one of the three phases of the power supplied to the drive motor 85, and thus cause its direction of rotation to reverse. The energizing coil 342 activates only contactors 338 and 344, and does not influence the activa- 13 tion of any of the remaining contactor elements (i.e., the al coil closes only the a1 contactor elements). Hence, neither the vibrator motor 170 nor any of the feed roll motors 50a, 50h, and 50c, are conditioned for operation during the return pass of the charge car.

As stated previously, during the forward movement of the charge car, that is, when the Forward push button 330 in the controller circuit 302 has been depressed and all the a contactor elements have been closed by the energized coil 340, the circuit for each of the three feed roll motors is conditions for response.

Considering now the feed roll assembly F for delivering bed layer material a from hopper A to the sinter pan 14 (FIG. 3) by means of the feed roll 13a, the threephase motor 50a which operates this particular feed roll is connected by circuit 317 to the three-phase power line 300. The mercury switch 57a is provided in circuit 317 which moves between open and closed position in response to the displacement of rocker arm 63a which in turn moves in response to the raising and lowering of a cam roller 81a. When the cam roller 81a is lifted by offset 102 on to cam face 104 of cam track 100 (see FIGS. 1 and 3), and mercury switch 57a closes, a circuit path is cornpleted through energizing coil 380 (the contactor 348 having been previously closed upon actuation of the Forward push button 330 in the controller 302), and the normally-open contactors 380a are closed, thus connecting the motor 50a to the power line 300. Accordingly, when the cam roller 81a rolls forwardly on the cam face 104, energizing current from the power line 300 is supplied to the motor 50a and the feed roll 13a is rotated. Correspondingly, when the cam roller 81a rolls off the cam face 104 at the end of the cam track 100, the mercury switch 57a opens and current to the motor 50a is shut off, thus stopping rotation of this feed roll 13a.

As shown in the illustrative embodiment of the invention, the motor 505 which operates the Ifeed roll 13b for dispensing the main charge layer material 15b from hopper B to the sinter pan 14 is a D.C. motor of the compound winding type providing accurate speed control. Single-phase A C. power, obtained by connection to two of the three conductors of the three-phase power line 300, is supplied via circuit 321 to a full-wave silicon rectifier 320 of conventional design for converting alternating to direct current potential. The D.C. output of the rectifier 320 is then supplied to a series-connected circuit 322 which includes contactor 347, mercury switch 5712, and the D C. motor 50b.

In a manner similar to that of the previously-described mot-or circuit, the closing of the mercury switch 57b and the actuation of the feed roll motor 50b are controlled by the vertical displacement of the cam roller 81h as it travels on and off the cam face 104. Thus, during the forward advance of the charge car, and with the motor circuit previously conditioned for response by the closing of contactor 347 upon the depression of the Forward push button 330 in the controller 302, the feed roll motor 50b for the main charge is actuated when the cam roller 81b rides up on the cam face 104 and the connected linkage closes the mercury switch 5711, thereby completing the circuit path 322 for current from the out` put of the rectifier 320 to the DC. motor 5011. However, the speed of the motor 50b and hence the rotary speed of feed roll 13b for the hopper compartment B may be varied in response to the operation of the depth control mechanism N now to be further described.

Connected in series with the shunt field winding 372 of the D.C. motor 50h is a potentiometer resistance element 328y having a rotatable wiper arm 327 which is connected to the gear pinion 203 engaging the movable rack 195. This rack, as previously described in connection with FIGURES 14-17, is displaced longitudinally in response to vertical movement of feeler wheel 189 as it rolls along the surface 212 (see FIGS. 3 and 15) of the main charge layer 214 of material 15b laid down by the feed roll 13b from hopper B onto the sinter pan 14. This displacement of the rack 195 in turn causes a corresponding rotation of the pinion 203 and hence movable wiper arm 327 on the potentiometer resistance element 32S and a variation in the amount of resistance inserted in series with the shunt field 372 of the D.C. motor 50]). For example, when the amount of main charge material 15b fed onto the sinter pan 14 by the moving charge car is not sufficient to maintain a predetermined and desired layer thickness, then the downward movement of the feeler wheel 189 as it rolls on the surface 212 of that layer will cause the rack to move in a forward direction and the wiper arm 327 of the potentiometer is caused to rotate in a clockwise direction, thereby increasing the amount of resistance in the shunt field circuit. As is well known to those skilled in the art, an increased resistance in the circuit of the shunt field winding of a D.C. motor will cause the motor to speed up in order to compensate for the decrease in the iiux produced. Thus the feed roll motor 50h will rotate the feed roll 13b at a faster rate to restore the level of charge material to the desired thickness. Correspondingly, if the feed roll 13b lays down a layer on to the pan 14 from hopper B which is too thick, as the car moves forward in its charging pass, the feeler wheel 189 will rise and this will cause the rack to move in a rearward direction which rotates pinion 203 counterclockwise and this will decrease the amount of resistance inserted in the shunt field and will cause the feed roll motor StB-b to slow down due to the increase in the field fiux. This regulatory and controlling action provided by the combination of the feeler wheel, the rack-and-pinion, and the potentiometer is such as to cause the feed roll 13b to be rotated by the D.C. motor 50]; at the proper rate necessary to maintain a uniform thickness in the main charge layer 214 laid down on the sinter pan 14. It will be understood from the foregoing description -of the oscillatory fluffer plate that the material delivered by feed roll 13b will be fed on to this plate which distributes the material on to t-he pan in the desired fluffed condition.

Reference is now made to the adjustable stops 201, 202 on the bar 197 which extends through legs 193, 194 of the rack (see FIGS. 14-17). It will be seen that, by clamping these stops 201, 202 on the bar 197 a distance away from the legs 193, 194, the longitudinal movement Of the bar will not cause any corresponding movement of the rack until one or the other of the stops 201, 202 engages a leg of the rack. Hence, slight variations in thickness of the main charge layer 214 will not affect the setting 0f the potentiometer 328. The stops 201, 202 are adjusted by the operator so that the resistance setting of the potentiometer 328 is changed only when the surface 212 of the charge layer varies by more than a predetermined amount from the desired level. An inch or two variation in the level of the surface of the main charge layer is permissible in commercial operation. This socalled lost motion or dead zone arrangement eliminates any hunting by the motor 5012 which would otherwise result from continuous variations of the resistance setting of the potentiometer due to very small changes in the level of the charge layer from the desired predetermined level.

The electrical circuit for the operation of the feed roll assembly H for delivering ignition charge material 15C from hopper C on to the sinter pan 14 (FIG. 3) is similar to that of the circuitry previously described in connection with feed roll assembly F. More particularly, vertical displacement of cam roller 81e riding on the cam face 104 of the cam track 100 closes the mercury switch 57C, which completes the circuit path for current through the energizing coil 360, and thus controls the closing of the n-ormally-open contactors 360a connecting the ignition feed roll motor 50c to the power line 300.

Assuming that the lcharge car is at its loading station and is loaded ready to start a charging cycle, the overall Ioperation of the charge car may be briey described as follows: The main drive motor 85 is started by the oper-ator by depressing the Forward push button switch 330 which causes the car to move forward on its tracks, while yoscillation of the fluffer plate 140 is commenced at the ,same time, by energization of the vibrator motor 170. When the forward end of the car reaches the sinter pan 114, cam roller 81a engages offset 102 of cam track 100, .rides up it, -an-d rolls on to the cam face 104. The offset .102 (see FIG. 1) is positioned so that the linkage of cam roller 31a is tripped at the proper time to discharge the .bed layer material 15a from hopper A on to the grate of .the sinter pan when the baffle plate 16a reaches the end v56 of the pan. The chop gate 60a, delivery port 12C, and the` speed of rotation of delivery roll 13e, have all been previously adjusted by the operator to lay down a bed layer 210 (for example, graded return fines) of about `two inches thickness as the car makes its forward or charging pass.

When cam roller 81b reaches the offset 102 of cam track 100, this opens chop gate 60b and sets feed roll 13b into motion. The speed of rotation and opening of the ,delivery port is set in advance to deliver material from hopper B to form a main charge layer 214 on top of the bed layer 210. Depending upon the nature and condition Vof the charge material, this main charge layer is of predetermined thickness within the range of l5 to 25 inches. For. example, a main charge layer of about 20` inches thickness might be desirable in a given situation. The feeler wheel 189 and its depth control mechanism then operate automatically to maintain a uniform thickness in the main charge Ylayer 214 laid down upon the sinter pan .as the car makes its charging pass over the pan. It should be observed here that, as feeler wheel 189 approaches the -end of the sinter pan, cam roller 224 (see FIGS. 14-17) engages cam 227 to tilt the depth control mechanism up temporarily to permit feeler wheel 189 to clear the end lof the sinter pan.

When cam roller 81C reaches the offset 102 of cam track 100, then the feed roll 13C and chop gate 60Cl together with its associated mechanism, are put into operation. The speed of the motor 50c driving the feed roll 13C has been previously adjusted by the operator to lay down .a layer of ignition material 15C from hopper C of suitable thickness asthe car moves forward in its charging pass.

As each of the cam rollers 81a, b, c, reaches the opposite end of the sinter pan, each, in its turn, rolls down offset 103 and off of the cam face 104 of track 100, causing motors 50a, b, c, and their associated feed rolls 13a, b, c, to stop and the respective chop gates 60a, b, c, to close at the appropriate times.

At the end of the charge pass the Stop push button is I depressed to stop both the main drive motor 85 and the motor 170 providing oscillaion of the fluffer plate 140. 'Then lever 107 may be manually operated by the operator to move cam rollers 81a, b, c, out of the path of the cam track 100 for the return trip of the charge car to the .starting or loading station. The Reverse push button 332 is then pushed to cause the main drive motor 85 to rotate in the opposite direction and propel the charge car back to the starting station for another cycle. During the return pass of the charge car, all of the a contactors in the electrical circuits of the vibrator motor and the various feed -roll motors (i.e., contactors 345, 346, 347, and 348) remain open, and thus accidental discharge of material from anyrof the hoppers is prevented, even if the cam rollers 81a, b, c, have not been withdrawn from the path of the cam track 100. Cam roller 224 engages cams 227 (see FIGS. 14-17) on the return trip of the car to tip the feeler wheel 189 upwardly to clear the ends of the sinter pan. Then for the next cycle from the starting station, lever 107 is operated to move the cam rollers 81a, b, c, back into position to engage the cam track 100. The charge cycle may then be repeated to charge anew an empty sinter pan.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that in some sintering plant operations, the sinter charge on the sinter pan may not require a separate third (or top) ignition layer of charge material. So it is within the contemplation of the invention to produce a charge car embodying important features of the invention which has less than three hopper compartments; for example, a two compartment car having a hopper compartment for the bed layer material and a hopper compartment for the main ch-arge layer; the ignition charge compartment being unnecessary.

The terms and expressions which have been employed herein are used as terms of description and not of limitation, Vand there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it isl recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A travelling charge car for travelling on a pair of rail tracks positioned alongside a stationary sinter pan for charging material to be sintered on to said sinter pan in the form of l-ayers, which comprises a hopper having upstanding walls defining first, second and third hopper compartments for temporarily holding charge material therein, a chassis mounting said hopper compartments, track Wheels mounted on said chassis to roll on said tracks for moving said charge car in a path of travel over said pan, a delivery port in the lower portion of each of said compartments through which material is delivered from each of said compartments to be deposited in layers on said sinter pan, an openable and closeable chop gate for each of said delivery ports carried by said chassis, mechanically operated linkage means connected to each of said chop gates, trip means to operate said linkage means to move said chop gat-es to open and to close said delivery ports individually as said charge car travels over said sinter pan on said tracks, a first cylindrically shaped feed roll mounted below the delivery port of said first compartment, a first electric motor mounted on said chassis and connected to rotate said first feed roll, a second cylindrically shaped feed roll 4mounted below the delivery port of said second compartment, a variable speed second electric motor mounted on said chassis and connected to rotate said second feed roll, a third cylindrically shaped feed roll mounted below the delivery port of said third compartment, a third electric motor mounted on said chassis and connected to rotate said third feed roll, an electrical circuit connected to operate each of said feed rolls independently of the others, a speed control means connected to said variable speed rnotor to increase and decrease the rotational speed of said second feed roll, and linkage connected to said speed control means having a feeler means engageable with the surface of the layer deposited on said pan from said second hopper compartment and operative in response to the change in depth of the layer of material deposited on said sinter pan from said second compartment for control of said speed control means and thereby controlling the speed of said second feed roll for depositing a layer of charge material of predetermined thickness on to said pan from said second compartment in response to operation of said feeler means.

2. A charge car as defined in `claim 1 in which a distributor means including an oscillatory plate is mounted on said chassis with the trailing edge of said plate positioned adjacent to and longitudinally of the length of the cylindrical peripheral surface of said second feed roll to receive material delivered by said second feed roll and to distribute it on to said pan in the form of a fluffed layer and power driven means mounted on said chassis connected to said plate and operative to oscillate said pate crosswise of the path of travel of said car.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 in which said oscillatory plate is mounted at each of its ends on swingable hangers mounted on brackets pivotally secured to said chassis.

4. Apparatus as dened in claim 2 in which the leading edge of said oscillatory plate is inclined upwardly and rearwardly and is serrated to provide alternate tapered slots and tapered teeth; the tapered slots being widest at the leading edge of said plate and narrower toward the trailing edge of said plate.

5. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which said oscillatory plate is serrated along its leading edge and in which yieldable springs are mounted at each end of said plate engaging said brackets, said springs exerting yieldable forces against said plate toward each other.

6. In apparatus for charging material to be sintered on to a sinter pan of a sintering plant to form a charge on said pan in the form of superimposed layers, a pair of rail tracks along said sinter pan, a cam track adjacent one of said rail tracks providing trip means, a chassis, means for driving said chassis over said sinter pan, said driving means comprising motor driven rail track wheels mounted on said chassis to roll on said pair of rail tracks to pass said chassis over said pan, a hopper mounted on said chassis having a plurality of hopper compartments, each compartment having upstanding walls and containing a material to be charged on to said pan, each compartment having a delivery port in the lower end portion of one of its walls through which material passes from its compartment, a chop gate for each of the respective delivery ports for opening and closing said respective ports, and linkage means connected to each of said respective chop gates, each of said linkage means being operative independently in response to being tripped by said trip means to open and close its respective delivery port, a cylindrically shaped feed roll for each of said delivery ports mounted on said chassis for rotation with the cylindrical peripheral surface of each roll adjacent its delivery port and positioned to deliver material from its respective hopper compartment on to said pan in the form of a layer, an electric motor for each of said compartments one o-f which is a variable speed motor, an electrical circuit for each motor connected to an electric power source and each of said motors being coupled to one of said feed rolls, each motor vbeing mounted and connected to be operated independently to rotate each of said feed rolls independently, means operative in response to change of the thickness of the layer of material charged on to said sinter pan by the feed roll connected to said variable speed motor to vary the speed of that feed roll, distributor means adjacent said feed roll to which said variable speed motor is connected to receive material delivered by said feed roll to which said variable speed motor is connected to distribute it on to said pan in ufed condition, a controller device connected to said variable speed motor operative to vary and control the rotary speed of said variable speed motor and hence the rotary speed of the feed roll to which it is connected during the time its hopper compartment is passing over said sinter pan while delivering charge material to said pan, said speed controller device being operative in response to variation in the thickness of the layer of material delivered to said pan by said speed-controlled feed roll.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 6 in which said distributor means comprises an oscillatory plate, hanger means carried on said chassis mounting said plate for oscillation, and power driven means connected to said plate operative to oscillate said plate crosswise of the path of travel of said car.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 7 in which said oscillatory plate has a serrated leading edge.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 8 in which said hanger means comprise pivoted links pivotally mounted at one end on brackets secured to said chassis and at the other end pivotally connected to the ends of said plate and said power driven means connected to said plate comprise an independently driven electric motor the drive shaft of which has an eccentric portion, and a reciprocable connecting rod connected to said shaft and to one of said hangers.

10. Apparatus as defined in claim 6 in which said controller device comprises a feeler element adapted to engage the surface of the layer of material delivered on to said pan by said speed-controlled feed roll and to move upwardly and downwardly in response to change in thickness of `said layer, a potentiometer, means connecting said potentiometer and feeler element with the variable speed motor coupled to said speed-controlled feed roll and operative to vary the resistance in said potentiometer in response to upward and downward movement of said feeler element thereby to vary the rotary speed of said variable speed motor to increase the speed of said speedcontrolled feed roll when said feeler element is moved downwardly and to decrease the speed of said speed-controlled feed roll when said feeler element is moved upwardly. K

11. Apparatus as defined in claim 10 in which the potentiometer .has a resistance element and a Wiper arm and said feeler element is a wheel mounted to roll on the surface lof said layer and the means connecting said wheel `feeler element comprises a crank lever connected at one end to said wheel, a longitudinally movable rack having gear teeth connected at one of its ends to the other end of said lever, a rotatable pinion meshing with said rack teeth and having a shaft connected to rotate said wiper arm in response to rotation of said pinion.

12. Apparatus as defined in claim 11 in which legs each having a bore therein depend from said rack, a bar is pivotally connected at one end to said crank lever and said bar is mounted for slidable movement in said bores, and adjustable stop members are mounted in said bar a distance from said legs.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,806,438 5/1931 Alexovits 214-58 X 2,006,473 7/ 1935 Naber. 2,636,719 4/1953 OConnor 141-74 X 2,851,199 9/1958 Eriksson 222-178 2,904,224 9/ 1959 Young Z22-177 3,051,192 8/1962 lFagot et al. 222-56 X 3,072,290 1/1963 De Biasi 222-178 X FOREIGN PATENTS 675,708 7/ 1952 Great Britain.

933,166 8/1963 Great Britain.

609,979 10/ 1960 Italy.

OTHER REFERENCES Sterling, F. W. Marine Engineers Handbook, N Y. McGraw-Hill, 1920, p. 1158, VM 600.88.

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL ROTHBERG, Examiner. E. J. EARLS, Assistant Examinert 

1. A TRAVELLING CHARGE CAR FOR TRAVELLING ON A PAIR OF RAIL TRACKS POSITIONED ALONGSIDE A STATIONARY SINTER PAN FOR CHARGING MATERIAL TO BE SINTERED ON TO SAID SINTER PAN IN THE FORM OF LAYERS, WHICH COMPRISES A HOPPER HAVING UPSTANDING WALLS DEFINING FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD HOPPER COMPARTMENTS FOR TEMPORARILY HOLDING CHARGE MATERIAL THEREIN A CHASSIS MOUNTING SAID HOPPER COMPARTMENTS, TRACK WHEELS MOUNTED ON SAID CHASSIS TO ROLL ON SAID TRACK FOR MOVING SAID CHARGE CAR IN A PATH OF TRAVEL OVER SAID PAN, A DELIVERY PORT IN THE LOWER PORTION OF EACH OF SAID COMPARTMENTS THROUGH WHICH MATERIAL IS DELIVERED FROM EACH OF SAID COMPARTMENTS TO BE DEPOSITED IN LAYERS ON SAID SINTER PAN, AN OPENABLE AND CLOSEABLE CHOP GATE FOR EACH OF SAID DELIVERY PORTS CARRIED BY SAID CHASSIS, MECHANICALLY OPERATED LINKAGE MEANS CONNECTED TO EACH OF SAID CHOP GATES, TRIP MEANS TO OPERATE SAID LINKAGE MEANS TO MOVE SAID CHOP GATES TO OPEN AND TO CLOSE SAID DELIVERY PORTS INDIVIDUALLY AS SAID CHARGE CAR TRAVELS OVER SAID SINTER PAN ON SAID TRACKS, A FIRST CYLINDRICALLY SHAPED FEED ROLL MOUNTED BELOW THE DELIVERY PORT OF SAID FIRST COMPARTMENT, A FIRST ELECTRIC MOTOR MOUNTED ON SAID CHASSIS AND CONNECTED TO ROTATE SAID FIRST FEED ROLL, A SECOND CYLINDRICALLY SHAPED FEED ROLL MOUNTED BELOW THE DELIVERY PORT OF SAID SECOND COMPARTMENT, A VARIABLE SPEED SECOND ELECTRIC MOTOR MOUNTED ON SAID CHASSIS AND CONNECTED TO ROTATE SAID SECOND FEED ROLL, A THIRD CYLINDRICALLY SHAPED FEED ROLL MOUNTED BELOW THE DELIVERY PORT OF SAID THIRD COMPARTMENT, A THIRD ELECTRIC MOTOR MOUNTED ON SAID CHASSIS AND CONNECTED TO ROTATE SAID THIRD FEED ROLL, AN ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT CONNECTED TO OPERATE EACH OF SAID FEED ROLLS INDEPENDENTLY OF THE OTHERS, A SPEED CONTROL MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID VARIABLE SPEED MOTOR TO INCREASE AND DECREASE THE ROTATIONAL SPEED OF SAID SECOND FEED ROLL, AND LINKAGE CONNECTED TO SAID SPEED CONTROL MEANS HAVING A FEELER MEANS ENGAGEABLE WITH THE SURFACE OF THE LAYER DEPOSITED ON SAID PAN FROM SAID SECOND HOPPER COMPARTMENT AND OPERATIVE IN RESPONSE TO THE CHANGE IN DEPTH OF THE LAYER OF MATERIAL DEPOSITED ON SAID SINTER PAN FROM SAID SECOND COMPARTMENT FOR CONTROL OF SAID SPEED CONTROL MEANS AND THEREBY CONTROLLING THE SPEED OF SAID SECOND FOR ROLL FOR DEPOSITING A LAYER OF CHARGE MATERIAL OF PREDETERMINED THICKNESS ON TO SAID PAN FROM SAID SECOND COMPARTMENT IN RESPONSE TO OPERATION OF SAID FEELER MEANS. 